n old man, but
that wouldn't be safe; besides, I know'd well enough he'd take to
smugglin' again, an' soon give us a chance to nab him at his old tricks;
so Coleman and I have been keepin' a look-out on him; and we've found
that small yard o' pump-water, Peekins, oncommon clever in the way o'
watchin'. He's just brought me word that he heard Long Orrick talkin'
with his chum Rodney Nick, an' plannin' to run their lugger to-night
into Pegwell Bay, as the coast at the Fiddler's Cave would be too well
watched; so I'm goin' down to Fiddler's Cave to-night, and I wants you
to go with me. We'll get Coleman to help us, for he's savage to get
hold of Long Orrick ever since the night they put him in a sack, an'
left him to air his timbers in the Great Chapel Field."

"But if," said Bax, "Long Orrick said he would run to Pegwell Bay, which
is three or four miles to the nor'ard o' this, and resolved that he
would _not_ go to Fiddler's Cave, which is six miles to the s'uth'ard,
why should you go to the very place he's not likely to be found at?"

"Because I knows the man," replied Bluenose, with a wink of deep
meaning; "I knows him better than you do. W'en Long Orrick is seen
bearin' away due north with flying colours, you may take your Davy that
his true course lies south, or thereby."

Bax smiled, and suggested that they should take Guy Foster with them,
and when Tommy Bogey heard what they were about he volunteered his
services, which were accepted laughingly. Being of a sociable
disposition, Tommy deemed it prudent to press Peekins into the service,
and Peekins, albeit not pugnacious by nature, was quite willing and
ready to follow wherever his sturdy little friend chose to lead.

So they all set off, along the road that skirts the beach, towards Saint
Margaret's Bay. The sun was just sinking as they started, and the red
clouds were beginning to deepen in their colour and look ominous, though
the sea was still quiet and clear like a sheet of glass.

After following the road for some time, they diverged into the footpath
that leads to, and winds along the giddy edge of, the chalk cliffs which
rise abruptly from the shore at this part of the Kentish coast to the
height of several hundred feet.

The path being narrow, they were obliged to walk in single file, Bax
leading, Bluenose and Guy following, and Tommy with his meek friend
bringing up the rear.

The view seawards was indescribably magnificent from the elevated r